Iron Man deals with his self-inflicted wound. Batman forces Bane to flee, but the Black Widow clone steals the datachip.
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There wasn’t enough alcohol in the world to compensate for blowing off your hand.
At least that’s what Iron Man thought. He hoped he lived through this to test that theory.
Thankfully, his sacrifice put down KGBeast and the last HYDRA goons.
“Coulson!” Iron Man called over his commlink. “KGBeast is down, but I could use a hand. Literally.”
It was the last thing Iron Man said before passing out.
Inside the warehouse, Vanko watched Batman and Bane’s struggle. He felt it unnecessary machismo since he controlled the ultimate weapon. “Bane! Let me have him!” Vanko said.
“No! He is mine!” Bane said. He then reached down to grab Batman.
The vigilante rolled away from Bane, getting to a crouch from where he could maneuver. Taking a quick glance at Vanko, Batman saw him suited up in the control outfit. The Black Widow was gone.
Bane came at Batman. The Dark Knight tried to feint, but Bane didn’t fall for the maneuver this time.
Batman dodged another heavy fist but wasn’t nearly as lucky with Bane’s follow up. The force of the impact spun Batman around, putting him in a daze. The Dark Knight struggled to remain standing.
Bane came at him again.
Batman quickly withdrew a smoke pellet from his utility belt and hurled it at Bane. It smashed against his chest. Smoke billowed from the pellet. Had Bane not had the mask, he would have choked on the smoke.
The Dark Knight moved to one side, taking advantage of the obscuring smoke. He switched on his cowl’s Infravision and took in the scene.
Vanko turned his arms; the killer robot did the same. Batman thought back to Stark’s demonstration back in Gotham. If Vanko made his knock-off true to Stark’s model, those arms contained electrified nets.
Vanko aimed them at the heart of the smoke cloud. He couldn’t see anything more than Bane, but the net would capture anything in the cloud.
Batman crossed the room to Vanko. Instead of going for the man, Batman yanked all the cables from the control interface. Vanko continued to wave his arms, but the Legionnaire failed to move with him.
The vigilante punched Vanko unconscious.
With him down, Batman threw a bola at Bane. The line wrapped around the man’s torso, pinning his arms. Bane didn’t let this stop him. He charged toward the wall, slammed against it.
Before Batman could figure what he was up to, Bane followed the wall out of the room.
“Stark!” Batman called on his commlink. “What’s the situation outside?”
Stark didn’t answer.
“Coulson! I’ve lost contact with Stark.”
A tense moment later, Coulson came back over the line. “We’re moving in, Batman. ETA two minutes. Scanners have Iron Man out front but down. KGBeast and some HYDRA agents are down too.”
“A criminal named Bane led this the operation,” Batman replied. “He escaped, but I have Vanko and his knock-off robot.”
“And the chip?”
Batman looked at the computers, specifically the drive where Vanko had installed the Stark data chip. It was missing. Batman said, “I’m working on it.”
The Dark Knight slipped out of the warehouse, presumably by the same exit Black Widow’s clone had used. That led to an alley behind one of the other warehouses in the district.
If Batman had any doubt which way the clone went, the body of a fallen SHIELD agent dispersed that doubt.
The agent was dead, his throat slit. Batgirl had said the clone was proficient with knives, managing to slice through Batgirl’s armor. Batman would take this under advisement in his confrontation.
Batman reasoned the clone would remain on foot, sticking to the shadows. Using his grappling gun, he took the high ground to the rooftops to get a better vantage on her.
He found her at the edge of the warehouse district, making her way to a parking lot. At this late hour, there were only one or two cars in the lot, probably security for the area.
One car was all the Widow clone needed.
Batman noticed movement on the rooftop to his side. Stopping to check, he saw another woman on the rooftop. She had a sniper rifle and moved into position on the edge of the building. Batman got on his commlink.
“Coulson! Do you have a female agent on the warehouse rooftops?”
“One agent at the rear of the HYDRA warehouse, male,” Coulson replied.
Batman cut the transmission before Coulson could say more.
To be continued…
While writing this fanfiction, I used Green Ronin’s Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd Edition RPG, to leave some things to chance. Check it out!
Like this fanfiction? Check out Mark’s original “Shadowdance” saga books!
Copyright Info
DC Adventures, Copyright 2011, Green Ronin Publishing; Author Steve Kenson. It’s now Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd Edition
Advanced Player’s Manual, Copyright 2005, Green Ronin Publishing: Author Skip Williams.
The characters Iron Man, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Vanko, Black Widow and Nick Fury are Copyright Marvel Comics
The characters Batman/ Bruce Wayne, Batgirl/ Barbara Gordon, Black Mask, the Penguin/ Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, Renee Montoya, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, Robin/ Dick Grayson, KGBeast and Bane are Copyright DC Comics
None of the characters belong to me as this is fanfiction, done for fun, and as a creative exercise.
